A New Life
by Shadowriser609
Summary: Sarah McKenna was a normal Air Force Pilot. She never asked to be here, but now here she is. Now with a resident from Earth on board Galactica, will the fleet ever be the same? Rated M for language and violence.
1. Prologue

Prologue

-Sarah's POV-

Today started like any other day. The sky was blue and everything seemed calm…oh boy was that about to change. I was sitting in the pilot's lounge of the Florida Air Force base and playing cards with the leaders f the 32nd and 75th air groups, not that I'm bragging, but I was winning by a lot. I drew another card to my hand and Avery, the 75th air group commander called for us to show our cards. "Read 'em and weep." She said revealing her hand. I smirked and set down my hand. "Damn it!" Johnson, the 32nd ground commander, and myself laughed a little and reshuffled the deck for another round.

"You really got to teach me you tricks." Johnson said.

"If I had any to give, I would, but the trick I found was patience." I replied. They both rolled their eyes and then the door to the room opened, revealing Major Foxworth at the door. All three of us groaned.

"I wonder who's the assignment for this time" Avery said with a smirk. Foxworth then noticed us and walked over.

"Captain McKenna, fancy seeing you here." Foxworth said.

"Quite." I replied dryly. Foxworth then set a folder on my desk. "What is this?"

"Your next assignment, I want you in the air within the hour." Foxworth replied. I sighed and read through the folder. I then looked at him sternly.

"You want me to fly recon over Bermuda? Are you serious?" I asked. Foxworth growled.

"Shut your mouth McKenna, I already get enough insubordination from Ajax and I don't need any extra coming from you. I then stood up.

"Yes sir." I slightly gritted out. Ok, I know that's not how you treat a superior officer, but he sent my best friend to his death 2 years ago. I can't exactly forgive him for it. I then walked out of the room and went towards the bunks to get in my flight suit. I zipped up my suit and grabbed my helmet. I then made my way towards my F35-A that was in the adjacent hangar and climbed in it. "Tower, Skyknight, requesting permission for takeoff."

"Let me guess, Foxworth has you on another recon flight?" The tower operator asked.

"You know me to well, filling a flight plan for Bermuda today." I replied.

"Roger that Skyknight, safe travels." The tower radioed in.

"Wilco tower, proceeding to runway 6R." I said. I then was guided onto the runway and opened the throttle. The plane then lurched forwards and soon I was above the ground and flying southeast. After around an hour I reached the patrol zone. "Tower, Skyknight, I am beginning my patrol.

"Roger that Skyknight, happy hunting." The tower radioed back before I cut the com line. I then sat back and flew over Bermuda a few times at high altitude. I occasionally picked up an airliner here and there, but nothing indicating any threats. My aimless flight seemed to drag out forever, but it was finally time to head back to base after 3hr of flight time. As soon as I turned to face the base however, a freak storm appeared and I instinctually put on my air mask. I then tried diving out of it but as soon as I cleared the storm, I was greeted by a starry night sky. 'The hell?' I though. I then pulled back on my stick, but I didn't move. I then tried ailerons and tail movements, but to no avail. I then opened my throttle to try moving, but my engine wasn't even running, almost as if it couldn't breathe. I then leaned and looked bellow myself and saw that I wasn't on earth anymore, but rather stranded in space. I forced myself to calm down so I didn't waste air, but I knew it wasn't going to last long.

I drifted aimlessly for what felt like an eternity before a bright white light encompassed my canopy. I covered my face from the light and then I felt something hard connect to my plane. Afterward, the light faded away and when I uncovered my face, I saw two massive thrusters fire and I was sent back into my seat. The object in front of me then turned left a little and slowly a fleet of ships came into view. They ranged from circular disks stacked behind each other in a row with engines attached to just flying containers. The ship in front of me ignored those vessels and guided me towards a larger vessel that you could tell was built for one thing in mind, war. I caught a glimpse of a name plate on the side of the ship. _Galcatica_. 'Where have I heard that name before?' I asked myself. I couldn't dwell on the thought to long, because I was soon pulled into a large flight pod. The ship towing me put down some metallic landing gear and put down my own gear. The F35 bounced a little, but I was soon on the deck and then the platform I was on lowered into the ship. A door closed above me and then I saw an arrangement of deck-crew and pilots inside the hangar. I looked to my left and right and saw two different types of snub-fighters and what appeared to be transport ships either being worked on, or fixing to launch. As I was looking around, the platform reached the deck and I caught the sight of 4 armed men in black suits aiming their riffles at my canopy. 'Shit.' I took off my breathing mask and opened the canopy to my fighter. I lifted my hands up and an older man in blue, who was standing between the soldiers in black, spoke up. "My name is Commander William Adama, identify yourself."

"My name is Captain Sarah McKenna of the United States Air Force. Where exactly am I? Are you responsible for my being here?" I asked in return.

"Your ship showed up on our Dradis a few minutes ago and we had no part in bringing it there. What is this United States Air Force?" The Commander inquired of me.

"It is the Air Force for the United States of America. Do you know how far from earth I am?" I asked. The Commander's eye brows lifted a little.

"Earth?" He asked.

"Yeah. Mostly covered in water, but is home to at least 8 billion humans world-wide…" I replied.

"Marines drop your rifles and someone get a ladder for the captain to climb down." Adam ordered. The men in black lowered their riffles and I took off my helmet. A ladder was then brought to my craft and I slowly stepped down onto it. I climbed down the 7 feet it was until I reached the deck floor. "Ms. McKenna, if you would please follow me." I nodded to him and he led me through the hallways of _Galactica_. "So, tell me about Earth."

"What would you like to know sir?" I asked.

"What kind of ships do you have?" Adama asked. I sighed.

"You won't like my answer sir…" I said. He then stopped and looked at me. "Earth exactly doesn't have any space fleets…our fleets are all sea, bearing and our fighters are restricted to atmosphere." Adama then looked at the ground.

"I understand." Adama said. "Now, there is someone who wants to talk to you in my office." He continued on his way and I followed him again. I put my hand on my forehead and sighed. Just hope I'm not in over my head.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

William Adama asked Sarah even more questions as they walked through the ship, but one question in particular made him question how human she really was. "How many Cylons has Earth encountered in the past?"

"Uh…what's a Cylon sir?" Sarak replied.

"You mean you never heard of the Cylons before?" Adama inquired.

"Not at all, who…what…are they?" Sarah questioned.

"Our biggest mistake." Adama replied. Sarah looked at the ground and soon they reached the door to Adama's office. William opened the door and two stepped inside to find another, older woman inside the room. The woman had black hair, glasses, and was dressed a way a politician would normally be dressed. "Captain McKenna, I'd like to introduce the president of the twelve colonies of Kobol, Laura Rosaline." Laura stuck out her hand and Sarah shook it.

"Pleasure to meet you Captain." Laura said. Sarah nodded and Adama gestured her to take a seat. Sarah sat down and then Adama sat down behind his desk. "So tell me, what ship are you from."

"Ship ma'am?" Sarah asked. Before Laura could respond, William cut in.

"She claims to be from Earth but has no clue how or why she came here." He said. Sarah nodded and the president went wide-eyed a little.

"You're from Earth?" She asked. Sarah nods. "Do you know how to get back?"

"I-I'm sorry ma'am, but I really don't. I was patrolling off the coast of my home country when a weird storm brought me to where you picked me up…" Sarah said looking down because she knows she just killed any hope Laura had.

"I…understand." Laura said in a slightly defeated voice. "Nevertheless, it is still good to know that Earth exists and you being here gives us hope of finding it someday."

"If I may…why is it you want to find Earth? I mean…with your technology, don't you have any planets to call home?" Sarah asked.

"Not anymore." Laura said.

"What happened?" Sarah inquired.

"The Cylons. That's what happened." William answered. "They wiped out all 12 of our colonies…this fleet…is all that remains of humanity." Sarah looked at them both in surprise.

"Th-this fleet…is all you have? Wh-where's Earth come into play here?" Sarah questioned.

"We believe our 13th tribe, who separated from us thousands of years ago, left for a planet they called Earth. We seek to reunite with them and maybe have a chance to stop the Cylons." Laura said. Sarah stared at them both blankly. 'How could a human race this advanced loose so much? Whatever these _Cylons_ are…they are going to pay dearly for harming my kind.' Sarah thought to herself. She then snapped out of her thoughts.

"Where will I be staying sir?" She asked.

"That is your choice, you can either stay on _Galactica_ or move on to the civilian fleet, but if you remain aboard, you're going to need to go through training on the operations of a viper." Adama said.

"I understand sir. I wish to stay aboard this ship." Sarah stated.

"I'll have Starbuck meet you in the hangar pod in a few hours, in the mean time I want you to help Chief Tyrol understand your craft. There maybe things we can use to help the fleet." Adama told her. Sarah stood up and nodded. "That will be all." Sarah then saluted him and walked out of the room.

She then proceeded to walk down the hall and went to see this 'Chief Tyrol' about adapting tech from her F35 to service the Colonial Fleet. As she was walking, she got to see just what condition the people of this fleet were in, the corridors had a few bruised and battered people sitting against the wall, officers looked like they haven't had proper sleep in days, and everyone was in a sense of alert and despair. Sarah gritted her teeth a little at the sight, but hid her anger well. Granted, she wasn't angry with the people she saw, but rather the things that put them there in the first place.

After walking for a little bit, she reached the flight hangar again and saw a man inspecting every inch of her F35. 'This must be the Chief.' Sarah thought as she walked over to him. She tried coughing to get his attention, but when that failed, she spoke up. "I hope you're taking care of her." The man jumped a little.

"Huh, oh…You have a very confusing bird here. I mean 1 gun, no RCS, actual wing control surfaces, and probably one of the biggest engines I've seen for a fighter." The man said. Sarah then walked over to the ladder which led into the cockpit, turned a knob, and two sets of doors opened revealing cycle missile racks inside of the fuselage. "Well…that's new."

"The F35 was meant to be a practical stealth fighter. That's why the missiles are hidden under the doors." Sarah said. "My name's Sarah McKenna by the way."

"Galen Tyrol. Most call me Chief though." Galen told her. "Any other secrets this plane has to offer?"

"Not really, most of it is radar, head tracking for targeting, so on." Sarah said.

"What do you mean head tracking?" Chief asked.

"I mean it uses head direction to better lock missiles on target and allows easier gun control, not that this fighter would ever get into gun range." Sarah then slid down the ladder. "After that, it's just a simple jet fighter out of its element."

"What kind of missiles you have loaded on it?" Tyrol inquired.

"Radar guided and heat seeking, nothing to special." Sarah answered. Chief nodded and continued walking around a little more. "What are your plans for this jet?"

"Well, right now is to see what we can adapt for our vipers and raptors, but I see the plane becoming scrap metal within the week." Galen said. Sarah sighed a little.

"I see…do you need anything else?" Sarah asked.

"Nothing regarding your plane, but I've got a viper that needs heavy repairs. You ever worked on a viper before?" Chief asked. Sarah shook her head.

"No I haven't but I don't mind learning. Besides it will help me understand the fighter before someone named 'Starbuck' comes get me for pilot training." Sarah stated. Tyrol then nodded and led her to another section of the pod where a battered and broken viper was being hung by some chains. The nose was clearly bent inwards, the starboard wing was completely gone, the canopy was cracked and holed, exposed piping underneath the craft, and liquid was dripping onto the floor. "What the hell happened to this ship?"

"Cylons. Had a Raptor tow it in, and now I have to somehow fix it." Tyrol said.

"How are you going to fix it, it's basically scrap at this point." Sarah remarked.

"If only Apollo shared our mentality." He said sarcastically. Sarah cocked her head. "Lee Adama, the captain of the air group onboard _Galactica_."

"Thanks. So, what do you plan on doing with it?" She asked.

"I was thinking I could use parts from this ship to build a new type of fighter, but I haven't had the time to do it until now." He replied.

"What kind of ship you plan on building?" Sarah asked.

"That's the thing, I don't have a clue. All I have is some schematics for the design." Tyrol told her.

"Mind if I see them?" She inquired. Galen then guided her to a table to show her his design. She saw a sleek fighter with two engine pods on either side, the fighter had radar deflecting angles, and looked remarkably like a F22, but inspired by a viper."It looks a lot like a stealth design. I'm guessing speed's going to be its main advantage?" Galen nodded. "Well, I don't mind spending the off hours I have to help you work on it, but I would like to make a few suggestions regarding the ship."

"What did you have in mind?" He asked.

"I was thinking maybe retractable gun mounts and the missile system from my fighter to help conceal the ships weapons from detection." She answered. Galen put his hand on his chin.

"You know, you may be onto something." He then took out a pen and added where the weapon points would be on the ship. "Like that?"

"I think it looks good." Sarah said. "So, I guess there's only one thing to do now." Galen nodded and grabbed them both grinders and welding helmets. The two began cutting away at the battered viper, saving and non-bent frame bars and internal systems like coms. The process wasn't easy, but they were making steady progress. They managed to salvage the com system, Dradis console, and some structural support beams to help make an airframe. Tyrol then began laying out the cockpit area while Sarah welded the beams into place. After another hour, they both set down their tools and went to wheel the F35 into that part of the hangar. Sarah unlocked the brakes and they both moved the fighter forward inch by inch until it was in the section they were working on. Sarah applied the brakes on the wheels again and she began removing the removable panels from the fuselage of the F35 to get at the interior of the plane. Tyrol removed the nose of the plane with help of what looked to be an engine jack and stared at the contents in surprise.

"All of this inside of something that small?" He asked.

"Honestly I don't know how they did it. I just fly the bird and occasionally perform my own maintenance." Sarah said. She then unhooked some wiring. "So, how did you end up on _Galactica_?"

"Well, I was assigned a while ago and was just another deck officer, but then the attack happened and the previous deck chief was killed which left me in charge." Galen said. "How about you? What's your story?" He then set the nose on the ground using the jack and dug further into the plane.

"Well I was playing cards with the other squad commanders when I was given orders to patrol over the island country Bermuda. After I…" Sarah grunted and she pulled out another bit of wiring. "…was done with the mission, I turned to head back to base only to find I was caught in a freak storm which somehow transported me across the galaxy."

"That explains why your bird is so bizarre." Tyrol said. "I'm guessing you only flew in atmosphere?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Mind opening the missile doors so I can pull the wires and loosen the bolts?" Sarah asked. The Chief nodded and then climbed up the ladder that they put out for the F35 to reach the cockpit. He turned the knob and the missile rack door opened. "Thanks."

"It's no problem. Need a hand down there?" Tyrol asked. Sarah stuck out a grease covered hand in a 'thumbs up' position and Tyrol climbed down.

"When I say to, pull that black wire. It's the current missile release so have one hand on the missile; we don't need a detonation inside of the hangar." Sarah said. Tyrol nodded and put his left hand on the front of the radar guided missile while Sarah put both of her hands on the tail end of it. "On 3. 1...2…3…now!" Tyrol then pulled the wire and the rack released the missile into their hands. They caught it and slowly pulled it out of the plane and set it on the ground. "1 down, 9 more to go…" Sarah said letting loose a breath she was holding in. Tyrol panted a little and then climbed under the plane to get the next one. They both carefully cycled to the next missile and repeated the procedure until all the missiles on that rack were offloaded. Tyrol then undid the bolts holding the rack and the two managed to pull it out of the bird. They set it down next to the new fighter frame and went to take out the second rack.

"I got to say, this is way more complex than any bird I've seen before." Tyrol said.

"I'll take that as a complement then." Sarah said with a small smile. The rack door was opened and they began taking out the missiles the same as before. "…you think these racks will hold the missiles you use?" Sarah asked after they took out the 5th missile on the rack.

"The connection points are similar so I don't see why not." Tyrol replied. They then proceeded to finish removing the missiles from the rack and them took out the cylindrical rack and set it next to the first one. Both of them sighed in relief and Sarah's legs gave out from under her. Tyrol was panting hard and they rested for a minute or two.

"Why do they have to be so damn heavy?" Sarah asked while calming her heart rate. Tyrol chuckled and Sarah smiled before climbing to her feet with sweat dripping off her face. The Tyrol went get them some water and then they went back to work. Tyrol and McKenna went on to talk more about the F35 as they worked, but after another hour, a female voice called out.

"Explain to me why you weren't waiting for me in the other section of the flightpod nugget!" The voice yelled. Sarah and Tyrol snapped up to see a smug looking blonde woman standing by the entrance to the door. Sarah climbed down from being on top of the right wing and responded.

"Commander Adama wanted me to go over my jet's features with the Chief, sir." She replied.

"Alright, you get off this time. Now get your ass in gear and move it to the pilot's briefing. You're late for training." Sarah turned back to Tyrol who jerked his head upwards to acknowledge her leaving and saying good bye and then to Starbuck.

"Yes sir." Sarah said before walking out with Starbuck. They walked throughout the ship until going into the pilot's briefing room where 3 other pilots were sitting on chairs in the first row. Sarah sat down in a chair and Starbuck got behind the podium.

"Alright nuggets, class is in session." Starbuck said.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After Starbuck said those words, the other three trainees smiled expectantly while Sarah just sighed a little as she remembered herself in a similar position during her basic training. "Before we begin, I want you to tell me why you are here." Starbuck said.

"To frag Cylons sir." One of the trainees said. Starbuck chuckled a little.

"Well, don't we have a smart one?" She said sarcastically. "What you are actually here to do, is to fraking learn how to fly a viper and not get shot down doing it."

"Just like basics." Sarah murmured.

"You have something to say nugget?" Kara asked her.

"No sir." Sarah replied.

"Good." Starbuck said. She then threw them operations manuals of the viper MK 2. "Read over this because knowing where these control are…will actually save your life." The 4 trainees nodded and began reading over the manual. As the three other new recruits read over their manuals, Sarah focused on RCS controls. It wasn't too long before she found the section and began reading over it. She then acted out grabbing the lever and pulling it with her left hand. The other trainees were just reading over everything the manual had from Dradis, throttle, gear, etc. Eventually Starbuck turned on projector and played some combat logs of kills other viper pilots have gotten. The other three nuggets took mental notes while Sarah was looking at the faults in their strategy. The pilots seemed to always engage in a turning war even though the Viper MK 2 was clearly faster than the Cylon Raiders, most pilots barely drew lead with their guns, and the movements seemed very rigid and panicked. To her it seemed like the true challenge with the pilots was fear of being anywhere near a raider rather than being shot at. After the videos finished, Starbuck spoke up again. "Follow me nuggets." The 4 trainees nodded and followed her out of the room. They jogged through the hallways of _Galactica_ until they reached another room. Starbuck opened it and inside was a human gyroscope.

"What is this for?" A female trainee asked.

"When in combat, you will have at least 2 seconds to shoot your enemy before he turns back on you and frags you. You goal, is to climb inside of this blindfolded and be spun until you can't make sense of the damned world and then shoot the target with a pistol." Starbuck replied gesturing to the target of a Cylon centurion hanging from a slide-able roof rack.

"So like g-tolerance?" Sarah asked.

"Precisely nugget, and since you were so happy to say exactly what I said just before your question…you're up first." Starbuck said. Sarah nodded and climbed into the chair that was inside of the gyroscope and grabbed the handle bars at the top of it. Starbuck then blindfolded her and pushed on the gyroscope to make Sarah start spinning. The other trainees watched as she tumbled and spun inside of the gyroscope and Starbuck held up a stopwatch to time her. As Sarah tumbled, she focused her mind on a static image as to help her not get dizzy and she flowed with the spin instead of fighting it. Starbuck then stopped the gyroscope upright and Sarah threw up her blindfold, clearly unfazed by the gyroscope. Starbuck handed her a pistol. "You have 2 seconds, go!" Sarah aimed and fired the pistol until the magazine was empty. Starbuck slid the target forward and look as she saw six holes darted around the centre of the target. The other nuggets looked at the target in surprise and Sarah climbed off the gyroscope to line back up with them. After Starbuck got over her initial surprise, she turned to the other nuggets. "What are you doing with your mouths open like that? Mandez get your ass in the chair. It's you go." Starbuck said sternly. The nugget, Mandez, snapped out of his daze and proceeded to climb inside of the gyro. Starbuck replaced Sarah's target with a fresh one and slid it to the end of the wall. Mandez was then blindfolded and spun, but when he got done spinning, he was to dizzy to sit up straight and slumped over a little. Starbuck took off his blindfold and handed him the gun. She yelled at him to start and Mandez began shooting at the wall, but when the target was rolled back, there was only one hole and it was in the bottom right corner. "At least you hit the target. Now get back in line." Mandez lined up behind Sarah after he regained his sense of direction and Starbuck drilled another cadet.

"How did you do that?" The female nugget from before asked Sarah as the 3rd trainee for today was spinning.

"Once you've gone through a few high-g test, it becomes easier to keep yourself oriented." Sarah replied.

"I see." The other trainee said. "I'm Curie by the way."

"Good to meet you Curie, I'm Sarah." Sarah replied with a small grin as she looked down on the slightly shorter red-head. After a few seconds, 6 shots rang out but this time none hit the target. Curie was then called for her turn but preformed the same as the previous nugget. Starbuck then led them for another jog around the ship until they reached the briefing room again. The 3 Colonial trainees were exhausted and all 4 nuggets sat down again. Kara Thrace then pulled down a presentation that had typical Cylon raider tactics on it.

"The Cylons prefer to bait you out into 1 on 1 engagements, away from any support so that they can shoot you down and jump out before your wingman could ever reach you. You're goal as a pilot is to avoid this trap and instead stay with your wingman." Starbuck said. "You're dismissed nuggets. I want all of you to meet me in the hangar-pod at 0830 sharp. Don't be late." The trainees got up to leave. "McKenna, get back down here." Sarah climbed back down the stairs to where Kara was.

"What is it?" Sarah asked.

"That's just what I want to find out. How the hell did you land 6 near bull's-eyes on the target after being in the gyroscope?" Starbuck questioned.

"That wasn't my first high-g strain test sir; I've had way worse back when I was training to be an air force pilot." Sarah replied.

"Define worse." Starbuck ordered.

"Well they strapped me into a chair and flew the chair in circles around the room increasing speed every rotation until a blackout point was reached." Sarah replied. Starbuck bit her lip, but nodded.

"Alright, you're dismissed nugget, but make sure you're in that flight pod tomorrow." Starbuck said. Sarah nodded and walked off. As Starbuck saw her walk away, she felt a ping of jealousy about her. 'How the frak did she land all 6 shots on that target?' Kara thought to herself. She then packed up her reports of each trainee's performance and walked out of the room as well. She made a right at the first junction and walked though the ship.

Meanwhile in CIC, William Adama, Sol Tigh, Gias Baltar, and Gaeta are discussing the affects of the Cylon virus that infected the ship two weeks ago. "So what you're saying is that it will take at least two full days to fix the issue?"

"Yes sir." Gaeta said. "I have every diagnostic program in the book running right now trying to find it."

"Damned virus, I knew we should've never networked the computers." Sol said.

"But it was out only way to even have a chance of finding the Civilian Fleet again." Baltar said. Adama sighed and then turned to Gaeta.

"Mr. Gaeta, I want you to go line-by-line and purge the virus." Adama said.

"But sir, going line-by-line would take at least a month!" Gaeta said.

"I don't care. I want this virus out of my ship." Adama replied before turning to the main table of the CIC. Gaeta almost lost his cool but managed to keep himself from shouting just as Starbuck opened the door. She saw Adama and Tigh around the Dradis table and walked over.

"Commander, I need to speak to you." She said.

"If it's about the training program, I'm sure you're going to do fine." Adama said.

"It's not that sir. It's about out new member of the fleet Sarah McKenna." Starbuck stated. William looked up at her immediately.

"What is it?" He asked. Starbuck then unfolded Sarah's target sheet.

"I put the 4 nuggets on the gyro and this is what she had on her first try." Stabuck said. Colonel Tigh walked over.

"Gods, an entire clip with near pinpoint accuracy?" Tigh asked.

"Is there anything else Starbuck?" Adama asked.

"She said that she experienced high-g training before which conditioned her for this, but sir the record for this exercise before today was 4 shots and that was after I was conditioned for it." Stabuck said.

"Maybe her military had more intense trainings than a simple gyroscope." Adama said. Starbuck sighed.

"Maybe you're right sir. I honestly don't know, but if this nugget is as good as this sheet makes her out to be, I pray she isn't a Cylon because she could probably wipe out a large portion of our viper force." Starbuck replied.

"Keep me posted on her progress." Commander Adama said. Starbuck nodded and walked out, carrying the target sheet in tow.

"What are you thinking?" Colonel Tigh asked.

"I'm thinking we either have a miracle pilot onboard or a Cylon who doesn't know how to play off being human." Adama answered while rubbing his face. Sol nodded and then the CIC returned to normal. Com officers were monitoring viper and raptor communications in the case of an emergency while other crewmen were going over fleet positions and tracking their course.

-The next day-

Starbuck woke up, got into her flight suit and walked out of her bunk to go to the hangar pod. She checked her watch. 0800 hours on the dot. She decided to go to mess-hall to get some food before going beat the tar out of some nuggets in a training mission. She was served a standard ration meal and grabbed herself a drink before sitting down at a table. When she did however, another woman sat down across from her. "I heard your record was broken yesterday." The black haired woman said.

"What about it pill junkie?" Stabuck asked the woman.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that a nugget beat your record shows me a thing or two." The woman said.

"Are you calling me inadequate Cat?" Starbuck asked while locking eyes with the woman. Cat shrugged.

"You tell me." She said. Starbuck rolled her eyes, stood up, and threw away her trash.

"You know pill junkie, you got a lot of never calling me out." Starbuck shot.

"What are you going to do about it?" Cat asked. Starbuck then walked back over and punched her in the face, knocking her out. The other pilots went silent and then Starbuck turned to leave the room. She walked out and walked on to the hangar pod while wiping her hand off from Cat's blood on it. When Kara arrived, she saw three of the 4 trainees lined up in a line, but then caught the sight of her 4th one drinking some water and sweating. The 4th recruit lined up with the other three and all 4 stood at attention.

"Alright, today we will be doing a combat simulation. I will act as the raider while you three will be actively hunting me down." Starbuck said. "We will be using training tags only. So make sure you aren't firing live ammunition." The nuggets nod and all 5 of them walk to their own vipers. Starbuck picks her viper MK 7 with her nameplate on it while Sarah, Curie, Mandez, and Planck, the 4th nugget, grab their own, unmarked vipers. They were loaded into the launch tubes and jettisoned into the vacuum of space. "Galactica, Starbuck, moving to training zone alpha."

"Roger that Starbuck." A _Galactica_ com officer replied.

"Alright nuggets, switch your guns and wait for my signal." Starbuck said. All 5 pilots switched to training lasers and then Starbuck ordered the 4 recruits to move off of her and around 1 kilometer away before they started the training. She then flipped her viper to face them head on. "Remember once you're hit, you're hit, you're out until the simulation is complete."

"Roger that Starbuck." Curie said over the coms. Starbuck then ordered the start and immediately one of her Dradis contacts dropped off the board. Starbuck didn't notice however and instead went towards the flight of viper MK 2s. In her head on pass, she managed to knock out Mandez before Curie and Planck turned on her six o'clock. Starbuck dodged their shots and then turned to face them. Curie instinctually pulled away, but Planck was riddled with training laser fire. Starbuck then rolled over top and turned on Curie's six when suddenly her Dradis lit up to reveal another target behind her. Starbuck flipped 180 degrees but saw nothing behind her and then a viper MK 2 flew upwards in front of her nose. Starbuck smirked a little and turned on the unsuspecting viper. Starbuck then pressed the trigger, but the viper turned to where its engines were facing above Starbuck's canopy and the nose was in between her gun fire. The viper then boosted away and Starbuck followed with Curie rolling on her tail. Starbuck quickly got the jump on Curie, which meant she was out and she moved to where Mandez and Planck were to watch Starbuck and Sarah dogfight. As Starbuck shot at Sarah's viper, Sarah pulled back hard on the stick and cut her thrusters. Sarah drifted above Starbuck as she raked her guns right in Starbuck's path. Starbuck dodged and Sarah kicked on her engines again to stay away from the front of Starbuck's viper. The viper MK 7 is a more maneuverable variant, but it is slower and has a larger profile. Sarah played to the MK 2's speed advantage to make it to where she decided when the engagements happened rather than get in a turning war with Starbuck's more agile fighter. Starbuck tried everything she could when she was in range, to shoot down Sarah, but Sarah countered her maneuvers with moves she's never seen before. For instance, when Sarah was on Starbuck's tail, Starbuck pulled into a hard right turn, Sarah knew she couldn't follow so she went in a hard upward right turn to which she arced back down and slotted in behind Starbuck again. The two pilots, from the view of the other 3 nuggets, looked like they were performing some sort or figurative dance in space. The two vipers ducked, dodged, and weaved, each pilot fighting for just the smallest edge on their opponent. After 10-15 more minutes, Starbuck received a hit alert on her viper. "Frak!"

"You should always watch your six." Sarah said with a chuckle as she pulled up on Starbuck's left wing. Starbuck groaned a little and then the two pilots rejoined the other 3 nuggets.

"We're running it again. Sarah is the raider this time and you three nuggets will be facing off with her." Starbuck said. Sarah preformed a flip and burn to burn away from the other 4 pilots and set up position 1 klik away. The 3 nuggets gulped to themselves a little and then the training started. Sarah charged and the nuggets and they charged her, but then their Dradis lock on her disappeared. They tried establishing a visual on her craft, thinking she was drifting towards them, but then Planck's alarm went off signaling he was hit.

"Damn it!" He said. Curie and Mandez split apart and Sarah went after Mandez who was flying upwards. Curie then flipped her viper and burned upwards after them. As Curie slowly caught up, Sarah activated her nose RCS thrusters and pulled back on the stick, flipping backwards and above Curie's guns but her guns were angled on Curie. Sarah fired and Curie cursed as well. As she was flying back, Mandez exclaimed something in defeat and the two pilots flew back.

"How are you that damn good?" Planck asked Sarah as she pulled into their formation.

"I'm just applying previous experience to the situations." Sarah replied like it wasn't that big of a deal to her. Suddenly, the Dradis alarm went off and 4 red target pings appeared.

"Cut the chatter nuggets. I've got 4 raiders on Dradis, switch to live ammo and engage." Starbuck ordered. The 4 trainees switched their guns over to standard ammunition and engaged the raiders. Starbuck and Sarah easily fragged two raiders while Planck, Mandez, and Curie were having trouble with their raider. They were too tightly grouped together which made maneuvering a hassle. The raider however didn't get to act upon the advantage it had because Sarah knocked it out just as it pulled on the other nuggets' six. The three nuggets then broke off and Planck managed to destroy the 4th raider.

"Starbuck, Galactica, you are to land in the flight pod. We're spooling our FTL drives and preparing for jump." A _Galactica_ officer said.

"Roger Galactica, on our way back." Starbuck said. The 5 vipers then burned towards the _Galactica_ and watched as the rest of the civilian fleet was already jumping away. When they reached the hangar pod, _Galactica_ was the last ship waiting to jump away. The 5 vipers landed and were brought below decks just as the flight pods closed. _Galactica_ then jumped away just as 2 Cylon Basestars jumped in. the pilots then climbed out of their vipers and Starbuck dismissed them since her training plan was over for that day. Curie, Planck, and Mandez left the hangar pod while Sarah went back into the closed-off section of the hangar pod. Starbuck shook her head as she watched her walk away and then walked out of the hangar just as the Chief and other deck crew began servicing the vipers. 'I'm going to have to talk to her later.' Starbuck thought as she walked through the hallways of _Galactica_.


End file.
